Photographer's moving tribute to her dog makes us all weepy

Dealing with the death of a pet is its own very particular strain of heartbreak. A pet is part of the family, for some people a pet is their ENTIRE family, and pet-human love is such a simple, straightforward, insanely sweet variety of love. Pets are family, but their lifespans are so much shorter than their people’s. You can delude yourself as much as you like (I’ve made up a grand myth about my dog being a descendant of the multi-headed canine guardian of the underworld, Cerberus, and with that kind of Greek god dog magic buzzing around his bloodstream, he’s got to have a lifespan of, like, a hundred million years at least. AT LEAST.) but the chances are good that if you have a pet, there is going to come a day when you are going to have to say goodbye to that sweet puppy/kitty/bunny/ferret/chimpanzee/whatever cute thing you have bouncing around your living room. When that goodbye eventually comes, it makes sense to say goodbye to your wonderful pet in the most wonderful way possible.

Such was the case with photographer Maria Sharp, who recently had to say goodbye to her dog Chubby. Maria’s family adopted Chubby as a puppy, and Chubby remained a part of the Sharp family for the next sixteen years. On her blog, Maria proclaims Chubby her “longest and best friend.” Like any good best friend, Chubby shaped Maria’s life for the better.

“Since it was just me and my mom in the house, Chubby added something our family really needed. Chubby was my person. The person I ran home to to tell about my day. She taught me how to listen, how to love, and how to be a friend. Not only is Chubby important to me, but she touches everyone who is around her with her warm personality and acceptance.”

Since Sharp is a photographer, she saw it only fitting to make public the photos of herself growing up with Chubby and all the absolutely gorgeous moments the two besties shared together, including a final photo-shoot of the two pals taken by photographer Suzanne Price. Some of our favorite photos below. Don’t feel bad if you cry all over your keyboard, because that’s EXACTLY what I did when I scrolled through this bittersweet round-up of shots.